HOLLAND BOARD PICKS COST-SAVING INSURANCE
Holland, Mich. — Teachers in the Holland Public Schools will
begin paying a portion of their own health insurance costs after
the district capped the amount it is willing to pay, according to
the Holland Sentinel.

The board of education last week declared an impasse after no
agreement was reached in seven months of negotiations, the
Sentinel reported. Teachers will now pay $199 a month as part of
the Super Care I health insurance plan offered by the Michigan
Education Special Services Association. If teachers opt for MESSA
Choices II, the out-of-pocket cost for teachers would drop to $50
a month. MESSA is a third party insurance administrator founded
by the Michigan Education Association.

During negotiations, Holland Public Schools offered teachers a
health insurance plan worth just over $13,000 per teacher per
year, the Sentinel reported. The HEA proposed a plan that would
cost $14,390 per teacher. Health care costs in the district had
reached $15,360 per teacher annually, an amount the school board
said it could not afford. A Kaiser Family Foundation study found
the average family insurance plan nationwide for 2005 costs about
$10,880.

"The district's financial health hangs in the balance," school
board Treasurer Kevin Clark told the Sentinel. "Our district
cannot afford to pay 100 percent of the health care insurance
costs. It's not right to cut needed programs and services just to
keep our heads above water for now."

Teachers met early Friday morning and took a vote of "no
confidence" in the school board, but decided not to strike, the
Sentinel said. Teacher strikes in Michigan are illegal. The
district had plans in place to keep schools open had the union
struck. Teachers on Friday did discuss possible legal action.

"We are researching the options to take court action in regards
to this illegal imposition," MEA representative Marty Lankford
told the Sentinel. "We do not believe we're at impasse. Our
proposal (Wednesday) shows our desire and willingness to continue
to bargain over the issues."

School board President Steve Grose said the union's latest offer
would have cost the district an additional $723,000 this year and
gone up from there. The plan involved teachers paying for all
their health care benefits, but also receiving pay raises of more
than $14,000 in some cases, the Sentinel said.

"We have to be responsive to public calls to be good stewards and
not bankrupt our district with ... insurance," Grose told the
Sentinel.

DETROIT APPROVES SCHOOL TAX, ELECTS BOARD
Detroit — An 18-mill tax Detroit Public Schools collected for
three years after it expired was renewed by voters last week,
according to The Detroit News. Voters also elected a school board
for the first time since 1998, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The nonhomestead tax, which will raise about $95 million a year
from commercial property, was approved by a 2-1 margin, The News
said. It expires in 2012. Although the previous millage expired
in 2002, the City of Detroit and DPS continued collecting it
until the error was discovered in June, The News said. About $259
million was collected. It is unclear if the money will have to be
repaid.

Lekan Oguntoyinbo, DPS spokesman, said the district was counting
on the tax being approved in order to pay salaries.

"This is the money we pay our teachers, our janitors ..." he told
The News. "Any major hit to our budget means we have to bring out
the budget ax. They are counting on this money to get us
through."

Latisha Wilson, 32, told The News she voted no on the millage
because she is concerned about the way the district has managed
its money in the past.

"You don't want the money to be wasted," Wilson said. "I want
them to keep a tight rein on the money."

The News said the district borrowed $200 million last year to
avoid bankruptcy, and could receive $73 million less in per pupil
state aid for the 2005-2006 school year due to 10,000 fewer
students.

The 11-member school board does not take office until January,
but already has begun working, planning training sessions and a
retreat, the Free Press said. Board members will attend the
National Alliance of Black Educators conference, which is in
Detroit next week, and the board will hear presentations in early
December about finances, MEAP tests, the No Child Left Behind law
and Annual Yearly Progress requirements.

KALAMAZOO STUDENTS PROMISED FREE COLLEGE
Kalamazoo, Mich. — Students who graduate from Kalamazoo Public
Schools for the next 12 years have a chance to get their college
tuition paid for, according to the Kalamazoo Gazette.

An anonymous group is funding the "Kalamazoo Promise," which will
pay for tuition and fees to any public university or community
college in Michigan, the Gazette reported. Starting with the
class of 2006, all students who have been enrolled in the
district four or more years are eligible. Students attending KPS
since kindergarten will have 100 percent of their tuition paid
for, while students enrolled from ninth grade on will get 65
percent, the Gazette said.

"Starting tomorrow, there's not a kid in our district who is not
college material," KPS spokesman Alex Lee said, according to the
Detroit Free Press.

While in college, students must take 12 or more credits each
semester, maintain a 2.0 grade-point average and be making
progress toward a degree, the Gazette reported. Students who
enlist in the military are eligible following their time in the
service.

MICHIGAN EXPECTS TO MEET NCLB TEACHER REQUIREMENTS
Lansing, Mich. — Officials at the Michigan Department of
Education expect to meet the goal of having 100 percent of
Michigan teachers highly qualified under the No Child Left Behind
Act by the end of the school year, according to The Detroit News.

NCLB stipulates that all core-subject teachers — those teaching
art, English, math, science, economics, history, geography and
foreign languages — must be "highly qualified" by June. The 2006
deadline, which was set in 2001, means that teachers must hold at
least a bachelor's degree, obtain full state certification and
demonstrate knowledge of their subject.

State officials estimate around 94 percent of Michigan teachers
are highly qualified under NCLB, The News reported. Michigan
turned down a deadline extension offered by the federal
Department of Education, according to The News. Flora Jenkins,
MDE director of professional preparation services, said, "It's a
sigh of relief that the option is there, but we want to keep
pushing."

In an Oct. 21 letter school officials, U.S. Secretary of
Education Margaret Spellings said states failing to meet the
deadline will not lose federal money as long as they are showing
a good faith effort to meet the teacher qualification goal, The
News reported.

The News also said Detroit Public Schools, the state's largest
district, estimates 98 percent of its teachers are highly
qualified.

The state has been using special permits to allow teachers to
teach in subjects outside of their major, and programs through
state universities offered training over the past three years to
help teachers pick up the certifications they need under NCLB.

"We felt we were going to get very close to that 100 percent so
we are still going for it," Jenkins told The News. "We have to
make it this year or next."

CONTRACT TENSIONS GO PUBLIC IN MUSKEGON
Muskegon, Mich. — Stalled contract talks between the Mona Shores
school board and the Mona Shores Teachers Education Association
are becoming more heated and public as mediation sessions
continue, the Muskegon Chronicle reported.

Troubling to both sides is the increasingly public nature of the
contract dispute, the Chronicle said. The school board recently
sent a mailing to the school district's residents, outlining the
board's perspective on the issues. Union members have been
wearing slogan T-shirts and buttons, and putting signs in their
car windows about the lack of a contract, the Chronicle reported.

The main roadblock is health insurance, according to the
Chronicle. The school board is proposing different health care
options for teachers, including keeping their current program by
paying $250 annual premiums and $10-$20 prescription drug co-pays. The school board also is looking to eliminate health
insurance for retired teachers through the Michigan Education
Special Services Association since retired teachers already have
insurance through the State of Michigan Public Schools Retirement
System. Board members said that paying for both insurance plans
is redundant and puts too much strain on the district. The board
also could stop a proposed yearly salary increase if escalating
health care costs are not brought under control, according to the
Chronicle.

MESSA is a third party insurance administrator founded by the
Michigan Education Association. A study by the Hay Group
commissioned by the Michigan Legislature found the average school
employee health care package costs about $11,700. The national
average for a family health insurance plan is about $10,880,
according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The school board's
letter said Mona Shores teachers now receive health insurance
plans worth $15,674 a year.

The Chronicle reported that $2.1 million was set aside last year
to cover MESSA insurance for retired teachers for the next nine
years, however, the district ended up paying $858,000 through
MPSERS and an additional $493,958 through MESSA in the first year
alone. School Board President Linda Kelly expressed her concern
over the situation in the public mailing: "The district simply
cannot afford to fund this dual insurance cost."

Mona Shores Superintendent Terry Babbitt said he is concerned
that students will get unfairly caught up in the dispute if
teachers continue to publicly display their displeasure with the
contract situation. But Kathleen Oakes, a Michigan Education
Association UniServ director, told the newspaper, "We want the
general public involved, to understand what's going on and to be
concerned about how districts are spending money."

According to the Chronicle, Mona Shores reduced costs by $3.2
million over the last four years, but has been forced to take
money out of the district savings balance with more frequency.
The next mediation session is scheduled for Nov. 30.

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Teachers Deserve Good
Benefits; Schools Deserve To Know What They Cost," July 6, 1998
http://www.mackinac.org/366

DISTRICT CONSIDERS FOUR-DAY SCHOOL WEEK
Three Oaks, Mich. — A Berrien County school district is
considering shortening the school week to four days in an effort
to reduce costs, according to the South Bend Tribune.

River Valley School District is taking input from "action teams"
in an effort to meet the district's three- to five-year strategic
plan, Superintendent Chet Sanders told the Tribune.

"We will investigate the recommendations to determine if they are
feasible and would be a savings," Sanders told the newspaper.

One team suggested eliminating classes on Mondays. State law
dictates how many hours of instruction students must receive per
year, the Tribune said, rather than number of days. River Valley
could increase the length of the school day and hold classes
Tuesday through Friday.

Combining the district's three buildings onto a single campus
also was suggested, the Tribune reported. Enrollment has declined
in the district and operating schools on three different sites is
expensive, Sanders said.

"It's particularly tough for us because the housing in our area
(along Lake Michigan) is being sold to Chicago buyers," he told
the Tribune. "From an enrollment standpoint, we can't operate all
three buildings."

Proposals, if approved, would not take immediate effect, the
Tribune said. School officials plan to create a brochure for the
community that outlines the proposals.

SCHOOL LOCKDOWN LEGISLATION INTRODUCED
Lansing, Mich. — A bill requiring schools to perform two lockdown
drills each year is now before the Michigan House of
Representatives, the Michigan Information & Research Service
reported.

House Bill 4460 was introduced in March by Rep. William Van
Regenmorter, R-Georgetown Township, according to
MichiganVotes.org. Schools currently must perform eight fire
drills and two tornado drills each year. The bill would replace
two of the fire drills with lockdown drills, in which students
would be taught to shelter-in-place.

"As times change we must develop new strategies to ensure the
safety of our students and teachers," Van Regenmorter told MIRS.
"Solid plans need to be in place for all eventualities and
requiring lockdown drills will keep those in schools prepared for
any circumstance."

Lockdown drills would include establishing secure locations where
students are confined, securing the premises and other
appropriate measures for emergencies such as a chemical spill or
the presence of an armed individual,
MichiganVotes.org reported.

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (http://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper
with a circulation of 140,000 published by the Mackinac Center
for Public Policy (http://www.mackinac.org),
a private,
nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.